Gameday: Raptors vs Nets, October 18th

The Toronto Raptors will be heading into the Barclays Center to face off against the Brooklyn Nets in their final game of the 2024-25 NBA preseason. Coming into this game Toronto has a record of 2-2 in the preseason and will be looking to finish the preseason strong. The Brooklyn Nets are by no means an impressive team that Toronto can use as a litmus test for their players but any NBA action is welcome for the young players in Toronto trying to prove their worth.

Toronto will likely be without starters RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley tonight due to various injuries they have suffered which will leave a lot of minutes for the young guards in the rotation such as Davion Mitchell and Jamal Shead. Shead and Mitchell have impressed defensively with both of them being extremely adept at on ball defense and having good awareness of when to help off the ball which leads to turnovers. In Mitchell’s case his playmaking has also shone during this preseason as well as he is averaging 6 assists during the preseason. Hopefully they both can continue to show excellence on the defensive end like they have thus far.

The young Raptor with the most promise, Gradey Dick, will be playing tonight and looking to light up Brooklyn like he lit up Boston in the previous preseason game. Dick has really stood out in this preseason as an offensive cog that always gets the Raptors wheels turning with his shooting, his willingness to cut, and his willingness to fly off screens all over the floor. Dick is averaging 15.7 points this preseason which is a very welcome sign for Toronto. So look for Dick to continue providing good offensive output against Brooklyn tonight.

With this being the final tune up game before the regular season begins the projected rotation players may play deeper into the game tonight in order to maximize their final live action. All in all this preseason has provided some interesting things to look forward to this season such as the guard depth and point-of-attack defense and how much Dick can grow on the offensive end and hopefully both those things shine against Brooklyn.

Toronto tips off their season against the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers next Wednesday at 7:30 PM.

Game Info 

Tip-Off: 7:30 p.m. ET 

Television: Sportsnet One  

Radio: Sportsnet 590 The Fan 

Starting Lineups (Projected) 

Brooklyn Nets 

PG: Dennis Schroder 

SG: Cam Thomas 

SF: Cam Johnson 

PF: Dorian Finney-Smith

C: Nic Claxton 

Toronto Raptors 

PG: Davion Mitchell  

SG: Gradey Dick 

SF: Ochai Agbaji  

PF: Scottie Barnes  

C: Jakob Poeltl 

Injury Report (Not official) 

Nets  

Bojan Bogdanovic (Foot) – Out 

Trendon Watford (Hamstring) – Out

Day’Ron Sharpe (Hamstring) – Out

Raptors 

Immanuel Quickley (Thumb) – Out 

RJ Barrett (Shoulder) – Out 

Ja’Kobe Walter (Shoulder) – Out 

Bruce Brown Jr. (Knee) – Out 

Kelly Olynyk (Back) – Questionable 

Garrett Temple (Hamstring) – Questionable

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